Nadal said his leg started to hurt
during the third set and he called for a trainer to help him
out.

"I ended the match against [Fernando] Verdasco with the right leg, the
quadriceps and hamstring very tight," Nadal said.

"In the third set it started to [hurt]... I wasn't cramping
but it was scary."

Nadal asked the trainer to massage his leg during the change
of ends but was reluctant to call for a medical timeout in case
he needed it later in the match.

The powerful left-hander said the pain never subsided.

"I was a little bit tired. I was little bit worried about my
physical performance because [when] I trained, it was tough to
keep up the concentration," Nadal said. "I spoke with my coach before the match and he told me to go
out there and fight all the time and believe in the victory."

Although Federer actually won one more point -- 174-173 -- his serve let him down all too frequently. He connected on only 51 percent of his first serves, and it seemed as if all of his six double-faults came at critical times.Rafael Nadal won his sixth Grand Slam trophy, beating Roger Federer for the third straight time in a major final. Mark Dadswell/Getty Images

And as the pressure ratcheted up in the fifth set, it was Federer who wilted, not Nadal. Federer had six winners and 14 unforced errors in the set, while Nadal had just two unforced errors and dropped only three points in four service games.

Federer kept
alive his hopes when
he matched Nadal at two-sets all.

Federer blazed through the fourth set, breaking the world
No. 1 to seal it 6-3 before Nadal dominated the fifth.

Nadal had snatched a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 lead after taking the third
set tiebreak 7-3 when Federer double-faulted after more than
three hours on court.

The Swiss second seed, however, rocketed through the fourth
set in 44 minutes to send the men's final into a decider for the
first time since 1988.

He had broken Nadal in the second game of the fourth set to
take a 2-0 lead before the Spaniard fought back to level it at
2-2.

Federer, however, managed to save five break points in an
astonishing fifth game, when both players produced outrageous
winners from improbable angles.

Staving off Nadal added to Federer's confidence and he
immediately broke in the next game to take a 4-3 lead.

The Swiss served out for the set when Nadal was unable to
return a wide serve on set point.

Nadal, showing no signs of fatigue despite his 5 hour, 14
minute victory over compatriot Verdasco in the
semifinals, sealed the first set after an enthralling tussle
that highlighted the burgeoning gap between the pair and the
rest of the men's field.

While Federer overhit two backhands that ballooned past
the baseline to give Nadal the early break, he rectified the
problem in the next game, holding three break points as the pair
engaged in an intense baseline battle.

Nadal's salacious topspin forehands were negated by
Federer's returns that allowed the Swiss to break back.

They both held serve until the sixth game before Federer
slammed a forehand return off Nadal's second serve past the flat
footed Spaniard to seal his second break of the set.

But Nadal would not let up and an audacious angled
backhand cornered Federer, who double faulted on break point
in the next game.

Nadal earned two further break points in the 11th game and
capitalized by conjuring a topspin forehand pass that left the
Swiss flatfooted at the net.

Nadal withstood a challenge from Federer on his serve to
seal the first set with a forehand winner.

In the second set, Federer, was first to crack when he
mistimed a forehand over the baseline to drop his serve.

The 13-times Grand Slam winner, however, broke straight back
to level at 3-3.

Federer, seemingly aware he had to exploit what few
opportunities he had before Nadal took over in the fifth set, piled on the pressure in the eighth game
and finally took it on his fifth break point when Nadal's
backhand smacked into the top of the net.

Federer levelled the match after Nadal's forehand return
sailed well past the baseline.

Federer had numerous chances to take the third set but each
time he let Nadal off the hook.

The Swiss squandered three break points in the ninth game of
the third set to hand Nadal a 5-4 lead.

After levelling for 5-5, Federer held three more break
points in the 11th game but the Spaniard produced some battling
tennis to dig himself out of a hole.

The Swiss held to send the match into the tiebreak.

While Nadal lost the first point on his serve, it was the
only time he seemed under pressure in the tiebreak and he
clinched it when Federer's second serve on set point bounced
long.

It was the first men's final to go to five sets since Mats Wilander beat Pat Cash in 1988, the first at Melbourne Park.

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.